Bond’s Skylon to Achieve Dream of Single-Stage-To-Orbit Vehicle

In the UK’s Oxfordshire country-side, the legacy of British invention is being passed from Sir Frank Whittle to a new group of dedicated aerospace engineers and one man in particular; Alan Bond.

The long held dream of UK spaceflight is coming closer to reality, and his dream could be a game-changer.

Despite decades of lacklustre political interest Reaction Engines Limited (REL) is working on a revolutionary engine that could herald a new era of space travel.

Historically the UK, while being rich in inventing talent, has increasingly suffered from a decline in “big growth” industries.

This was especially true due to the costly rebuilding efforts after the Second World War when successive government investment and appetite for fiscally supported industrial and sector wide initiatives has waned.

Against this stark backdrop, lifelong inventors, like Bond, have toiled away on meagre funds dedicated to their concepts, holistic thinking and often encountering obstacles along the way. However this landscape could change soon.

Alan Bond and REL are behind Skylon; the successor to Britain’s aborted HOTOL space-plane concept of the late 1980s. It is an unpiloted fully reusable aircraft-like vehicle capable of transporting 15 tonnes of cargo into space and is intended as a replacement for expensive expendable launchers in the commercial market.

Skylon aims to be the first single stage to orbit (SSTO) vehicle in the world, addressing the needs of all major space launch markets (telecoms payloads, multiple small satellites, personnel, cargo, space station supplies and orbital infrastructure embedding).

Continue reading this story at: http://www.rocketstem.org/2014/01/14/bonds-skylon-achieve-dream-single-stage-orbit-vehicle/